Yes we made it to our first destination, we only intended to stay for 2days in Bangkok, this is number 3! and we've taken a break to get some rest, plan our next trip and update our blog!!!

After saying cheerio to the torrential Scottish weather we found out our flight was delayed an hour, typical. Just what we needed with a connecting flight from Heathrow to Bangkok getting ever closer! After circling Heathrow for 20 mins awaiting a landing slot we were faced with a full sprint to our gate, queue jumped terminal 3 security and were greeted to a round of applause by the check-in staff as we came haring around the corner as the last 2 passengers. We made it . . . . . .unfortunately our bags did not!

After a pretty decent flight (which ended in a sleepy Sinead putting salt in her coffee, and thinking the blankets were made from 100% recycled paper) we met an Irish guy from our flight looking to share a cab to the Khaosan area. Not only did we save money on the taxi but we found ourselves a free personal tour guide for our first couple of days as it was his fourth time here - score!

We checked into our hotel, where we got a free upgrade to the royal floor, wasn't that impressive until we experienced some of the other accomodation, but that can wait :) Next stop - bar! 2 Large Changs for just over 2 quid! After a couple more beers and picking Brians brains of what we should and shouldn't do or say (the most useful being no thankyou!) we tried some local grub - not literally although they are available along with crickets, scorpions and lots of other creepy crawlies! A few more beers followed in the form of Chang Towers then we hit the sack, sticky and smelly in yesterdays clothes and a little merry!

Wednesday lunch time we finally got our baggage and a much needed change of clothes! It's lovely weather (28-35) but pretty humid and sticky! We decided to head to the Grand Palace (queue Sineads unflattering pants and Matts prison trousers!) to check out the Temples. It was pretty impressive and the detail in them is amazing but really once you've seen one temple you've seen enough! It was mid-day and roasting so we decided to bail and grabbed our first Tuk Tuk back to meet Brian for some spicy lunch.

That afternoon we found a travel agents to book our first trip(and get out of Bangkok) and apply for our Vietnamese Visa's. We couldn't have timed it better as the heavens opened and unleashed monsoon rains onto Bangkok for around 40 minutes - fortunately the Thai's are never in a rush so we hid out there! The Visa's were going to take 2 days to come back so we booked a 2 day 1 night trip to Kanchanaburi, a rural province 2hrs NW of Bangkok.

That evening we took the commuter ferry down the river towards central Bangkok. Due to the flooding the entrance of the pier was underwater so we had to cross some really bockety planks of wood held together with sandbags - it was an experience, and i worried my sexy new pants would get ruined!! We timed the ferry ride so it was hitting dusk and we would see all the lights of the skyscrapers that lit up the city skyline, floating resturants and bridges etc for a mere 10p. We then headed back to grab some dinner which involved Japanese street food, Asahi 'Superdry' beer and an early night before our 6am start for our first trip! we said our farewells to Brian but turns out he lives in Perth Australia now so we said we'd catch him there for a beer at Christmas time -small world.

S&M